The servant boy was increasingly annoyed by Jiang Xiaoxiao's impertinent words.
"Sir, should I drive them away?"
Bai Xiao clutched his fingers tightly.
He dared not let Jiang Xiaoxiao enter the residence, fearing she was too skilled and would easily uncover the cause of Nie SangSang's death.
But if he let Jiang Xiaoxiao leave now, what if what she said was true and Nie SangSang's resentful ghost came back to haunt him? He wouldn't live to see another day.
While Bai Xiao was torn, Old Master Nie came out accompanied by a group of servants.
"Xiao Bai, what's going on?"
Bai Xiao had a decent reputation outside, and was very filial to the elders at home.
He had even sworn that for the rest of his life, he would not remarry and would serve his parents-in-law till old age.
Old Master Nie was completely satisfied with him and treated him like his own son.
"Father." Bai Xiao said, "It's nothing, just some friends chatting outside the gates."
Old Master Nie gave him a look. "What's so serious that you have to hide it from me? I've already heard from the servants that you spent a fortune hiring officials to post notices seeking a supernatural expert to come exorcise the residence."
He looked at Jiang Xiaoxiao's group. "Are they the ones?"
Bai Xiao neither nodded nor shook his head.
Old Master Nie said, "Although I haven't seen it myself, there has indeed been unrest in the residence recently, and it can't go on like this. If word spreads to our guests, we'll have to close the estate down.
Since an expert has come, we should invite them in to properly exorcise the evil spirits and put everyone's minds at ease."
At the end, Old Master Nie asked, "Oh, and has Yan fallen asleep? I heard he was startled by the thunder during the day and has been unsettled. I'll go check on him."
"Please go ahead, Father."
Bai Xiao instructed a servant boy to personally escort Old Master Nie to see the young master, while he welcomed Jiang Xiaoxiao in with mixed emotions.
Mr. Guo wiped his cold sweat, and the tea guests behind him were about to follow suit.
But Bai Xiao suddenly said, "Everyone, since the expert has arrived, the rest is a family matter of the Nie Residence. You may all disperse!"
The implication was clear: don't meddle in affairs that don't concern you.
Mr. Guo, whose emotions had risen and fallen, didn't mind. As long as Sir Nie didn't blame him, he would have preferred to go home right then.
As for the few tea guests, they had also sensed something unusual in Jiang Xiaoxiao's earlier words.
Although they were curious to see how the young lady would catch ghosts and exorcise spirits, Sir Nie had made his stance clear, so they didn't want to impose any further.
After exchanging glances, they gradually dispersed one by one.
Jiang Xiaoxiao, Xie Xun, and Chen Sixi were led to the main hall.
Bai Xiao had tea served.
Jiang Xiaoxiao had already drunk a lot of tea at the teahouse earlier in the day, and her stomach was full of water. She didn't want to see any more tea, so she didn't touch it.
Thinking she simply didn't like it, Bai Xiao had the Long Jing green tea replaced with Xinyang Maojian.
But Jiang Xiaoxiao still didn't touch it.
Bai Xiao said, "Miss, if you prefer a different beverage, you can tell the servants."
Jiang Xiaoxiao just wanted to sleep.
If she hadn't come to Kaihe County, she would have been asleep by now.
But she still had to stay awake to deal with the matter at the Nie Residence.
Seeing Jiang Xiaoxiao's drooping eyelids, Xie Xun directly told Bai Xiao, "We're in a hurry. If you have any requests, you might as well state them. If you don't need us, we'll take our leave."
"No, no, no!"
Bai Xiao had been scared out of his wits by what Jiang Xiaoxiao said outside the gates. How could he dare to casually drive them away now?
After a moment of silence, Bai Xiao said, "Since you've already seen the malevolent spirit, I'll get straight to the point."
"That's right, the one who has been causing trouble in our residence is her. Name your price, and no matter how much, I'm willing to pay, as long as you can get rid of her."
"But there's one thing – I hope that once this matter is resolved, you won't speak about it outside. After all, it's a family matter of the Nie household, and I don't want too much attention drawn to it."
Chen Sixi's mouth twitched.
You don't want attention but you spent money posting notices all over the streets?
This Sir of the Nie household says one thing but does another!
Xie Xun spoke up, "Sir Bai, we didn't come for money."
Bai Xiao was taken aback.
Up until now, whether at home or outside, everyone had only addressed him as "Sir Nie."
As if constantly reminding him that he was merely a kept son-in-law who ate the soft rice of his wife's family, to the extent that even his son had to take the Nie surname.
This was the first time a youth younger than him had addressed him with such an unfamiliar yet reassuring title.
Sir Bai.
Yes, his surname was Bai.
But in the entire Nie Residence, in all of Kaihe County, how many people remembered that his surname was Bai?
Bai Xiao snapped out of his daze. His previous resistance toward Xie Xun and the others dissipated instantly because of Xie Xun's one form of address, and his attitude became much more cordial and accommodating.
"Young man, your surname is Xie, right?"
"Yes."
"You just said you didn't come for money."
"Correct." Xie Xun nodded. "I only came to meet Old Master Nie."
Bai Xiao was taken aback again. "You know him?"
"No, but I've admired him from afar."
Bai Xiao was relieved and turned to Jiang Xiaoxiao.
"Miss, if it's convenient, please begin the exorcism now. I see you haven't brought any tools. If there's anything you need, just let the servants know, and they'll prepare it promptly."
"I can't subdue this ghost," Jiang Xiaoxiao suddenly said.
"What?"
"She has grievances that burden her spirit, and her resentment is too heavy. Unless I find the root cause and resolve her resentment, forcibly subduing her will only backfire on me."
"Ridiculous!" Bai Xiao scoffed. "A stray, resentful spirit from who-knows-where – she has grievances, so I'm supposed to take responsibility for addressing them? What is the Nie Residence, a charity house?"
Seeing Bai Xiao's unwillingness to admit the truth, Jiang Xiaoxiao continued, "She just told me her name is Nie SangSang, the young Miss of the Nie Residence – your late wife."
Upon hearing this, Chen Sixi was so startled that he fell off his stool.
But Xie Xun remained calm, so he tugged lightly at his sleeve. "Hey, Xie Xun, that ghost seems to be in this room. Aren't you scared?"
Xie Xun nodded. "Scared."
Chen Sixi was almost in tears.
If you're scared, at least show it a little!
The aforementioned Bai Xiao froze upon hearing Jiang Xiaoxiao's words, his entire face rigid. "You... you're saying she's in this room?"
Jiang Xiaoxiao nodded.
Bai Xiao felt a chill down his back, and his soul was nearly scared out of his body.
It really was that woman.
Nie SangSang, even though you've been dead for so long, why did you have to come back?
"It was my fault," Bai Xiao suddenly lamented mournfully. "I failed to take good care of her, which is why her delivery was so difficult. She must resent me for being too busy to keep her company back then."
"Sir Bai," Xie Xun said, "if you insist on not telling the truth and admitting your mistakes, then we can only help you this far."
